Microsoft opens up So.cl to the public

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Cooky

In December, Microsoft launched a new social networking service it called So.cl (pronounced “Social’) as a kind of research project. So.cl was limited to a small audience base when it launched; specifically students from the University of Washington, Syracuse University, and New York University.

Now Microsoft has decided to open up So.cl to anyone who wants to check it out. The company quietly turned on the public side of the So.cl website and it is now available to use, although technically Microsoft says it is still just a research project. You sign on to use the service via your Windows Live ID or your Facebook account. You also have to be 18 years of age and older.

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Kindle to include ads?

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Cooky

Is Amazon about to sell off its Kindle Fire welcome screen to companies? That’s what a new report from Ad Age claims. The story, which cites unnamed sources, claims that Amazon is now offering advertisers a way to purchase space on the seven inch tablet’s welcome screen for $600,000.

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Mozilla Shows off Metro version of Firefox

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Cooky

Over the past couple of weeks little tidbits about Mozilla’s upcoming Metro browser for Windows 8 have slowly been released. Despite all the controversy, the browser appears to be moving forward and today you can see it in action.

In a new video posted last week, the new browser is shown in action, or at least the start page. Mozilla has a long way to go but the video shows how the company is bringing many of Windows 8′s built-in features to the browser. The video does a great job of illustrating Mozilla’s vision for the new platform.

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Classic Gaming Day: Super Mario Land

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Cooky

Most people who are into games have played this classic game on NES and Gameboy. An addictive, fairly tough game that’s still pick up ‘n’ play some 23 years later.

The game reached 16 million sales in total, a record for it’s day, and drove up sales of the first generation Gameboy handheld console.

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Microsoft Shows Off Pre-release copy of Windows 8

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Cooky

A new video from Microsoft has emerged about their latest operating system, Windows 8. This video is the most updated yet and talks about the current pre-release version of the OS. It’s unlikely much will change between the final version of the OS and the contents of this video.

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Affordable Wallpaper that Blocks Wi-Fi revealed

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Cooky

If you have a home WiFi network, you are likely afraid that the signal could be picked up or even hacked into from the outside. Until now, the best you could do is change your password every so often and hope for the best. Now MaximumPC.com reports that two groups of French researchers have come up with a way to block WiFi signals from leaking out, and it will involve some redecorating.

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Valve to hold $1million DOTA championship

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Cooky

In 2011 during Gamescom in Germany, Valve decided to show off their upcoming action-RTS game DOTA 2 to the public for the first time via a pro tournament. 16 top eSports teams from around the world were invited to compete. In the end, the Ukrainian team Na’vi was the winner and its members received a whopping $1 million for their efforts.

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LEGO Lord of the Rings Revealed

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Cooky

The LEGO-based console and PC games from developer Traveller’s Tales have been among some of the most popular family-themed games released in the last few years. We have seen LEGO games based on the Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, and Batman franchises from the team. Indeed, a second LEGO Batman game is coming sometime this summer.

Now it looks like Traveller’s Tales will be releasing a new LEGO game soon based on the massive Lord of the Rings franchise. MCV reports that the packaging for a new set of Lord of the Rings LEGO toys includes an advertisement for the game, showing the Traveller’s Tales logo along with the logo of publisher Warner Bros. Interactive.

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No Quad core CPU for early Blackberry 10

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Cooky

As the mobile device market becomes ever more saturated with increasingly similar devices, manufacturers are struggling to find new ways to differentiate their offerings from those of their rivals. While a new battleground has been established in software – with device makers now offering value-added services and exclusive apps to integrate with their hardware proposition – many new devices are being introduced as superlative in some way: the thinnest, the greenest, the lightest, and so on.

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Lumia 900 finally on sale in UK

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Cooky

Several weeks after the US and Canadian release, the Nokia Lumia 900 has made it to the UK. The Inquirer reports that UK retailer Phones4u has started selling the smartphone today, a few days earlier than expected. Only the white version is on sale today but the black and cyan versions are expected to be on sale on Friday.

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Total Surveillance Society is one step closer to reality (UK)

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Cooky

The Queen admitted that the UK will be one of the first (and hopefully only) western nation to employ China-esque surveillance techniques in her speech today. She spoke about the creation of the “Communications Bill” which will bring CCDP to life as one of the activities the government will be involved in.

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THQ confirms Company of Heroes 2 for early 2013

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Cooky

THQ has officially announced its plans to head back to the front. Following up on previous leaks and rumors, the publisher has confirmed its plans to release Company of Heroes 2, the next full game in the acclaimed PC World War II-themed RTS series. As with the other games in the franchise, Company of Heroes 2 will be developed by THQ’s internal team at Relic.

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How to: Use X-box 360 Controller with a Mac

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Cooky

Everyone has extra X-box 360 controllers around, you can turn them into joypads for your PC or Mac, since Windows is already setup to do this, it’s pretty simple, however on mac a little extra work is needed.

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Apple’s latest Lion update stores passwords in cleartext

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Cooky

April was not a good month for Apple as Flashback infected over half a million OS X machines followed by a new Mac-specific Java vulnerability called SabPub a little later. Kaspersky Labs even stirred up user emotions after commenting that Apple’s security is “10 years behind Microsoft.”

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Windows 8 maybe cheaper than Windows 7

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Cooky

Yesterday, Microsoft put up an interesting post about Media Center and Windows 8. While the post gave a lot of insight on how the application will be used with Windows 8, there is a key takeaway from the post and that is that native DVD/Blu-ray playback will not be supported.

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Microsoft Increases UK Prices by 33%…to Business Customers

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Cooky

Although price increases on products are not uncommon, in IT we’re used to prices staying level or going down. Unfortunately for businesses in the UK, Computer World is reporting that Microsoft has to increase the costs of their products by up to 30%.

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Could Apple become a Mobile Provider?

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Cooky

While the networks have been falling over each other in a mad scramble to stock the iPhone as demand for it has continued to increase, they are now starting to count the cost of putting so much emphasis on the Apple handset, particularly as an increasing proportion of their smartphone sales is now represented by iPhone purchases.

In the words of one analyst, carriers are “sick of taking orders from Apple”, especially as the cost of each iPhone sale is far higher to the operator than for any other smartphone. The increase in carrier support for a third mobile ecosystem – in the form of Windows Phone – was said to be the operators’ way of reclaiming control from Apple. But Apple may be preparing to become a mobile network operator in its own right, in a move that could further subjugate the role of existing carriers.

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Classic Gaming: Streets of Rage

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Cooky

In todays classic gaming video we look at one of the better side scrolling beat ‘em up games on the market: Streets of Rage.

 

Windows Powered Nook Coming?

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Cooky

Following Microsoft and Barnes and Noble’s joint announcement earlier today that Microsoft would be investing $300 million for a 17.6% stake in a Barnes and Noble spinoff company based around Barnes and Noble’s Nook line, speculation is now mounting that future Nook products may be powered by Windows. Microsoft’s comments on the issue haven’t clarified the situation, as company executives only provided a “no comment” on the matter during a conference call with financial analysts.

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Samsung Denies Being Part of anti-Apple “Wake Up” Campaign

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Cooky

A video hit the web three days ago with what people are calling a Samsung anti-Apple flashmob campaign, staged outside a large Apple store in Australia. In any event Samsung came out with a statement the next day denying it had any involvement in the campaign.

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